RS

MEMBER DIARY

It’s the Democrats, Stupid!

Today, the Senate was unable to pass the amnesty bill known as the “DREAM Act”. With 55 votes in favor (3 of them Republican), and 41 against (including 5 Democrats), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) was unable to garner the support he needed to advance the bill.

After the vote, Reid issued a statement which read in part: “I am deeply disappointed that once again Republicans have blocked a bill that would strengthen our national security. In addition, the Dream Act would have grown our economy and given children brought to this country at no fault of their own by their parents an opportunity to defend our nation. Many of my Republican colleagues supported this measure in the past, but today their absence dashed the dreams of hundreds of thousands.”

Once again, however, Reid has incorrectly placed blame on Republicans, when in fact it was his own party, and his own inability to lasso up internal support, that lead to a bills failure. With 55 votes in favor of passing the bill (including Republican support), and 41 against (including 5 Democrats), it was actually the Democrats who refused to get out of the way. Simple math says this: 60 votes are needed, and you have 55. With 5 Democrats voting against, it was in fact those 5 votes that obstructed the bill! The bill actually had some bipartisan support with 3 Republicans in favor!